


As the World Passes By

by hauntedhhouse



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dave Lives (Umbrella Academy), Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, No character bashing, One Shot, dave has more braincells than the hargreeves siblings combined, even if luther is an idiot, i don't actually know what i'm doing, klaus takes dave to 2019, this is the first work i ever post anywhere wow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22867180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hauntedhhouse/pseuds/hauntedhhouse
Summary: In which Dave is taken to 2019 after getting shot, saving his life. He doesn't like how Luther thinks locking Vanya up is okay, so he does something about it.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 11
Kudos: 321





	As the World Passes By

The year is 2019. One David Katz is unconscious in the infirmary of the Hargreeves’ mansion. Unfortunately, he is oblivious to the date and his location. Last time he checked, he was in the middle of the Vietnam War, 1968, dying in Klaus’ arms from a bullet through the chest.

Slowly but surely, Dave regains consciousness. His eyelids are heavy, unable to open, and there’s a bitter taste in his mouth. Voices speak softly around him, two unfamiliar and a third one which is definitely Klaus.

“... what do I tell him?” Dave can just barely make out Klaus’ harsh whispers. “... time travel… think that I’m crazy…”

Dave stirs in the bed, letting out a short groan. He pries his eyes open, squinting against the harsh morning sunlight seeping through a nearby window. He looks around the room. There's a kind-looking lady standing by the door in a bright dress. Klaus is by the bed, concern on his face. And next to Klaus is… a chimpanzee in glasses and a fancy suit.

Dave doesn’t exactly scream but the noise he makes sure is embarrassing. 

Klaus is there for him immediately. “What’s wrong? Does something hurt? I’ll explain where--and when--we are later. Don’t worry, everything’s fine!” Klaus rambles, pressing the back of his hand to Dave’s forehead and cheeks.

Dave swallows--he could really use some water right about now. “Why is there a fancy chimp in front of me?” he manages to rasp out.

The chimp in question raises a brow in Klaus’ direction. “I’ll leave the explaining to you, Master Klaus.” There’s a practiced calm in his voice, an air of authority.

Dave just about faints when he realizes the chimpanzee just spoke. 

The chimp walks out waving the lady over to follow. Dave watches in disbelief, startling when Klaus puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“You must be really confused right now,” Klaus says. “It’s a really, really, super long story, though, and maybe you’d rather get more rest or eat or--”

Dave takes a deep breath. He turns to Klaus and calmly says, “Where the actual fuck are we, Klaus?”

Klaus smiles nervously. “Welcome to my childhood home, Davey.”

Of course, Dave has millions of questions. Klaus answers most of them and Dave learns five main things:

1\. Time travel is real.  
2\. The briefcase Klaus would lug around everywhere is actually a time traveling device he obtained after being tortured by two time traveling assassins in 2019. Because apparently Klaus is from 2019.  
3\. Klaus used the briefcase to take Dave to 2019 after getting shot, so that his robot mother could fix him. If Klaus hadn’t done this, Dave likely would have died.  
4\. All of Klaus’ siblings are super powered except for one of his sisters, named Vanya. His teleporting brother, Five, has recently returned from the future in the body of a child with bad news.  
5\. The apocalypse is in a few days.

Dave’s still not one-hundred percent he’s not dreaming. Or hallucinating. Maybe it’s the pain meds. But, he can handle Klaus seeing the dead, so is everything else really so unbelievable?

He spends the next two days stuck in the infirmary, cabin fever building up in him. Klaus frets around him at all moments, offering pain killers and tea and extra blankets. Klaus is obviously going through withdrawals which means that Dave frets over him in return. It’s a whole cycle.

On the third day, Dave begs Klaus to let him out of the stuffy infirmary. “I’m tired of sitting on my ass and staring at the same walls all day,” Dave tells him. “Show me around this place. Let me meet some of your siblings. Please, Klaus?” Then Dave gives Klaus the most powerful puppy eyes he can muster (Klaus has really rubbed off on him with that, huh?).

Klaus gives in immediately. “Fine,” he sighs. “I’ll take you on a little walk. Show you our 42 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms and thousands of stairs. Just… don’t be too put off if one of my siblings comes up and says something about me or you. I’ve told you how they love dismissing me as a junkie, but it’s whatever. This junkie is a war vet and they can suck my d--”

So, the two men walk about the mansion, Dave leaning heavily on Klaus and mindful of the stitches on his chest. Klaus narrates as they stroll through the halls, making snappy comments directed at Ben every now and then. It’s quite strange to think that Klaus’ ghost brother is following them and able to watch whenever. Dave greets him anyway.

Shortly after, Dave and Klaus are directed to the basement by one of Klaus’ siblings. Dave receives a few odd looks which he ignores when he sees what’s hiding in the basement. 

There’s a cell. In the cell is an incredibly small woman, crying and banging on the small window of the door.

Klaus always told Dave that his family had always been dysfunctional but… holy shit.  
Then the Hargreeves siblings are fighting. Allison writes furiously on her notepad, Diego and Klaus look incredibly disturbed, Luther looms over everyone, ignoring their arguments. How could he leave his own sister trapped in a cage? They have to do something about it. Dave waits until Luther is pulling Allison upstairs to make a move. 

“Klaus, help me open the door,” Dave says. He stumbles to the cell, frowning as Vanya presses her hands against the window. He can’t hear her cries but he can see the words on her mouth, countless apologies. Dave wraps his hands around the wheel of the door, Klaus copying him. They try turning it but it’s hopeless. Dave inhales sharply at the pain in his chest. He should be careful about his wound, even if it’s healing at a miraculous rate.

Klaus eyes him in worry. “You’re not strong enough yet, you’ll hurt yourself. Maybe we should try to change Luther’s mind or get Diego.”

Dave shakes his head. “It’s no use trying to change Luther’s mind. From the stories you’ve told me, if not even Allison can change his mind, we don’t have a chance.”

Dave lets go of the wheel, wincing at the pain burning through his chest. He watches as Klaus tries turning the wheel on his own but fails. Vanya is watching them with a tear-stained face, no longer slamming and scratching at the window.

Noticing a shadow in the corner of his eye, Dave turns towards the tunnel of the basement. Diego is walking down the tunnel, moving faster when he notices he’s not alone.

“Brother, dear! Nice of you to join us,” Klaus exclaims. “It's great to see you do have a soft side and don’t hate Vanya like you imply.”

“Shut up, Klaus,” Diego scowls. He points at Dave. ”I don’t know who the hell this guy is but if he’s up for getting our sister out of this cage, I don’t care.”

Together, the three of them turn the wheel. It creaks as it budges and it takes a minute to turn all the way. Dave has to pause a couple of times to regain his strength, but it’s worth it in the end. They pull the heavy door open, and Vanya falls out with fresh tears flowing. She’s pulled into a hug by Klaus, sobbing out and hiccuping, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt Allison! Sorry!”

“It’s okay, Vanya. Just breathe,” Klaus comforts. “We forgive you and Allison understands. She loves you--we love you.”

Dave hates to break the moment but it’s probably in everyone’s best interest to get out of the basement. Vanya has spent enough time down there and Dave is sure that the cell brings Klaus unpleasant memories.

“Hey,” Dave says softly. He places an arm around Klaus’ shoulders. “We should move this upstairs, yeah? Get Vanya some water, help her calm down. Maybe get Luther to apologize.”

Klaus nods and maneuvers his weeping sister away from the little room. Diego leads the way out, an unreadable expression on his face. They climb out the basement, oblivious to the fact that they’ve managed to prevent the apocalypse through the power of kindness and understanding.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This is the first fic I've ever posted anywhere and I wrote it for funsies instead of doing my research project. What a life I lead.


End file.
